The First Molecular Phylogeny of Orthochirus fomichevi Kovařík, Yağmur, Fet & Hussen, 2019 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Duhok Province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, as Inferred from Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit 1 Gene (June 2024 - March 2025)

Orthochirus fomichevi Kovařík, Yağmur, Fet & Hussen, 2019 comprises small-sized scorpions in the family Buthidae, which inhabit the Kurdistan region of Iraq and parts of Turkey. Despite the availability of some molecular data, the phylogenetic relationship and genetic variation within this species remain largely unexplored. Therefore, this study aimed to use the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene to build the phylogenetic relationships and estimate the evolutionary divergence of O. fomichevi collected from Duhok province, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. A maximum likelihood tree of O. fomichevi revealed that this species forms a highly-supported clade, distinct from other Orthochirus species. In contrast, O. innesi isolates from GenBank did not group under the same clade; instead, each formed a separate clade. Additionally, the O. afghanus isolate from GenBank failed to form a distinct clade and grouped with O. persa isolates from Iran. Mean genetic distances, calculated using the Kimura 2-parameter model, indicated that all analyzed sequences of O. fomichevi are genetically homogeneous and show greater similarity to O. innesi than to other species. Morphological analysis was in agreement with the molecular findings, further supporting the distinctiveness of O. fomichevi. In contrast, the O. innesi isolates were genetically highly divergent from each other, indicating that they belong to different taxa. Furthermore, O. afghanus and O. persa isolates from GenBank were genetically very close to each other, indicating that they belong to the same species. Overall, this study presents the first molecular phylogeny of O. fomichevi, confirming its distinct genetic identity within the genus Orthochirus and highlighting the potential cryptic diversity and misidentifications in O. innesi, O. afghanus, and O. persa isolates from the GenBank database. These findings underscore the importance of integrating molecular tools with morphology for accurate scorpion taxonomy.